RESEARCH ARTICLES CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 2, 25 JANUARY 2021 406 *For correspondence. (e-mail: ashwanichandel480@gmail.com) Assessment of germination time of finger millet for value addition in functional foods Ashwani Kumar 1,2, *, Amarjeet Kaur 1 , Kritika Gupta 2,3 , Yogesh Gat 2 and Vikas Kumar 1,2 1 Department of Food Science and Technology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, India 2 Department of Food Technology and Nutrition, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144 411, India 3 Department of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, University of Mississippi, USA In the present study, finger millet (Eleusine coracana) grains of variety VL Mandua-315 were soaked over- night and germinated (25° ± 2°C) for varying time intervals ranging from 12 to 96 h. Samples were drawn at every 12 h interval, dried at 50° ± 2°C, deculmed, powdered and analysed for physico- chemical composition, functional properties and mineral content. A significant increase (P ≤ 0.05) in sugars, crude fibre, ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity and water solubility index and decrease (P ≤ 0.05) in starch, protein and ash was found with increase in germination time. Fat, total phenols and tannins reached their minimal value after 48 h of germination followed by a linear increase. Water absorption index, oil absorption index, foam capacity and foam stability decreased with soaking, followed by a linear increase up to 60 h of germination. Amongst all minerals tested, calcium showed a significant increase with increase in germination time. A clustered heat map was used to depict the effect of germination time on the overall properties of finger millet. Keywords: Clustered heat map, finger millet, functional foods, germination, physico-chemical properties, value addition. MILLETS have always remained one of the staple foods and serve as a vital crop to ensure food security in semi- arid areas 1 . Earlier millets were considered as food of the low-income strata 2 . However, recent health claims like low glycaemic index, gluten-free, high amounts of dietary fibre and minerals have placed them in the category of functional foods 3 . In addition, the climate-friendly attributes of millets, viz. limited or no irrigation require- ments, ability to grow on low fertile soil and resistance to insects and pests make them a natural solution to keep drylands productive 4 . Millets can fulfil this dual contri- vance and in this connection, finger millet, one of the highly produced millets with high nutrient content, represents tremendous scope in countries like India, China and Pakistan where increase in dry areas has caused re- duction in cultivable areas. India is one of the largest producers of finger millet with an area of 1138.2 thousand ha under its cultivation and production of 1821.9 thousand tonnes in 2015–16 (ref. 5). Finger millet is drought tolerant and grows best in saline soils, i.e. pH 5.0–8.2, which makes it a suitable crop for drylands 4 . It has excellent protein quality, well- balanced amino acid profile and is considered one of the most nutritious grains 6 . Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) like calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, ribo- flavin and nicotinic acid are present in ample amounts 7 . Finger millet is rich in bioactive compounds that contri- bute to its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties 3,8 . However, the presence of anti-nutrients like trypsin inhi- bitors, phytic acid and some of phenolic compounds limits its food value as these compounds interact with essential nutrients like protein and chelate minerals and reduce their absorption 9 . Various processing techniques like popping, roasting, germination and fermentation are known to reduce anti-nutritional factors to a safe limit. Germination is an important and economical method to reduce the anti-nutritional factors and increase the diges- tibility of finger millet 10 . Germinated grains can be dried to a safer moisture limit and stored for further processing. Chemical composition, functional properties and mineral content of the grains alter with germination. Hence, a study of these changes is important for development of finger millet-based food products with enhanced func- tional and nutritional quality. In the present study, the effect of soaking and germination on the quality attributes of finger millet was studied at every 12 h interval up to 96 h. Materials and methods Finger millet (Eleusine corcana) grains of variety VL Manduaa-315 were procured from Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhanshala, Almora, Uttar Pradesh, India. The grains were cleaned by winnowing to separate the residual particles (husks, chaff and unmature seeds). The cleaned grains were collected and dried in a tray drier at 50 ± 2°C (Narang Scientific Works Limited) to a final moisture content of 8 ± 0.5% and stored till further use.